Dane - for real, what's the deal with Sonic fiber in Berkeley, Albany, El Cerrito?

Internet access discussion, including Fusion, IP Broadband, and Gigabit Fiber!
205 posts Page 14 of 21
by aanon4 » Thu Jul 05, 2018 11:20 pm
I see addresses in Berkeley which had previous reported June install dates have now been bumped to August, while my July (originally May) install date remains optimistically July. Also a friend received a form email today still promising her a July install. Given the two month bump, am I realistically looking at September now?

It would be really nice to get a proper update - Dane?
by ankh » Fri Jul 06, 2018 2:30 pm
Neighbors on our block who have been waiting to become Sonic customers got mail saying there will be a delay. Those of us who are currently customers haven't gotten any update information.

I think flagging down a Sonic truck is currently the way people are getting updates. We had one go down our street on the 4th and we nearly caught him and invited him to our block party, but he got away.
by dane » Fri Jul 06, 2018 2:54 pm
aanon4 wrote:I see addresses in Berkeley which had previous reported June install dates have now been bumped to August, while my July (originally May) install date remains optimistically July. Also a friend received a form email today still promising her a July install. Given the two month bump, am I realistically looking at September now?

It would be really nice to get a proper update - Dane?
I don't have any more precise dates available than the ones we're communicating, which are also on the website qualification display. The construction teams are working as rapidly as possible to build the network!
Dane Jasper
Sonic
by cycloscott » Fri Jul 06, 2018 5:38 pm
Dane,
Although it may be difficult to detect it from the non-stop questions, we really do appreciate the work you're doing. I know I was one of those people constantly pestering you about my little block.

I can only speak for myself, but the sentiment may be more universal... I've stuck with Sonic's DSL for a number of years and a couple of addresses, primarily because of your business philosophy. I could have had faster internet through Comcast or others. However I absolutely abhor their business practices. I frequently work from home and was tempted to bite the bullet in the name of better bandwidth, but the big telco companies lobbying against Net Neutrality was the final nail in the coffin. No way would I ever support them. Now that I'm finally getting a real choice, and with a company I can believe in, I can barely wait any longer. It's silly really. I've waited for years, and now that it's so close, any little delay is almost too much to bear.

Just wanted to say thanks.
...and congrats on the nice article in the LA Times
http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik ... story.html#
by dane » Fri Jul 06, 2018 10:44 pm
Yep, I get it, and certainly appreciate the support and sentiment! Build fiber to every member's home is our goal here, and we're accomplishing more construction more quickly than ever before. But there are bumps and delays, permitting issues, workforce availability issues, etc. We were set back a week or more when someone broke into our contractor's trucks and stole all of their tools. Things like that, always interesting new challenges every day. ;)
Dane Jasper
Sonic
by ozware » Sat Jul 07, 2018 2:25 pm
Sonic tech Larry installed fiber this morning. Yeah! Albany Hill near Washington and Cerrito. Smooth transition. Worth the wait.

The temporary phone number Sonic provided rolled over to our usual landline number a couple of hours after the install was completed.

Speeds are about 60X what we were getting with DSL!

Thanks Dane and staff!

I think Sonic is doing it right.
by aanon4 » Sat Jul 07, 2018 2:51 pm
cycloscott wrote:Dane,
I can only speak for myself, but the sentiment may be more universal... I've stuck with Sonic's DSL for a number of years and a couple of addresses, primarily because of your business philosophy. I could have had faster internet through Comcast or others. However I absolutely abhor their business practices.
This pretty much captures why I have Sonic. I've been a customer for 10-ish years over 3 different addresses in Berkeley and the prospect of fiber *finally* arriving is wonderful.

But, that said, while I find Sonic to be responsive to questions, I'm not sure I would describe them as the best communicators. I don't know of *any* current customer who is getting any kind of period update on network progress. Similarly, when dates slip there's no updates to members (And why do they always slip by 2 months, often leapfrogging other areas which will later also slip by 2 months? The availability tool doesn't appear to be driven by primary data). On the other hand, if you're not a member Sonic reaches out monthly and even sends you updates when dates change.

But I know the weekly update emails I'd love to receive are not going to happen.
by jessieandrob » Sun Jul 08, 2018 8:14 pm
hi Dane, any chance of AT&T's API working again? i noticed that Sonic's check availability page (https://www.sonic.com/availability) wasn't working for awhile for our address but suddenly started working again.

AT&T still appears to be offering their fiber for our address...would very much rather go through Sonic if possible!
by dane » Mon Jul 09, 2018 3:39 pm
jessieandrob wrote:hi Dane, any chance of AT&T's API working again? i noticed that Sonic's check availability page (https://www.sonic.com/availability) wasn't working for awhile for our address but suddenly started working again.

AT&T still appears to be offering their fiber for our address...would very much rather go through Sonic if possible!
I assume you're referring here to Sonic's resale of AT&T fiber, not our own network build we've been discussing this thread. Regarding the AT&T product, we've got our first test order placed last week, and we're dealing with issues in that process. Once we've got those ironed out, we'll launch that product.
Dane Jasper
Sonic
by jessieandrob » Mon Jul 09, 2018 4:34 pm
dane wrote:
jessieandrob wrote:hi Dane, any chance of AT&T's API working again? i noticed that Sonic's check availability page (https://www.sonic.com/availability) wasn't working for awhile for our address but suddenly started working again.

AT&T still appears to be offering their fiber for our address...would very much rather go through Sonic if possible!
I assume you're referring here to Sonic's resale of AT&T fiber, not our own network build we've been discussing this thread. Regarding the AT&T product, we've got our first test order placed last week, and we're dealing with issues in that process. Once we've got those ironed out, we'll launch that product.
Thanks for participating on the forums so much. I know you're doing a lot related to the CLEC regs, so I definitely appreciate you taking the time here.

Yes, apologies on confusing the two. If Sonic is reselling AT&T fiber, or will hopefully be able to, we would love to upgrade to that from the Sonic resold FTTN we have now.

Thank you again!
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